Results 641-660 of 14,090 for speaker:Marc MacSharry

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: We must be mature and serious about embracing this opportunity. I ask in this context for a debate on the issue of employment so that we can feed into the process. Over recent days we have seen IBEC, the Union of Students in Ireland and Social Justice Ireland come up with a number of proposals for extensive internship programmes. In particular, Social Justice Ireland, which is Fr. Seán...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I express my frustration with the debate on the need for consensus which has been taking place for several weeks. Last Wednesday week I raised the possibility of our dealing with tangible proposals on a whole-House basis, in the belief those in this room and the other House could come up with solutions to the problems we were facing. Instead, the pantomime has continued with a call for a...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: These are painful words for us all to contemplate because we all have mortgages and other financial commitments in line with income levels that are representative of a different time. Regrettably, times have changed and unless we want to go down with the IMF trying to pull us back up, it is time we faced up it quickly in this House and came up with solutions. Why did Fine Gael not specify...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I do not want to be in a Punch and Judy show. I want to hear Senators proposing where cuts can be made and dispense with the pantomime that has gone on for two weeks. We know the benefits of consensus. Let us seize the day and start putting forward tangible proposals.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I join with others in welcoming the fact that some briefings have taken place over the past number of days. Following those briefings, I am glad to see that there is much agreement on the kind of work that needs to be done. Yet, I sense that we will spend another week discussing the indignation of what got us into the mess, which is perfectly understandable, and the depth of our problems....

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: Senator Harris also mentioned it. It must be done as a matter of the utmost urgency. There will be a debate on banking in the House tomorrow and I hope Senators on both sides of the House can all stand up and say they think X or Y can be cut because that is what needs to be done. I wholeheartedly agree with Senator Walsh who spoke on the joint labour council agreements on the pay rates for...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: It will take place on 12 June 2012.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I share Senator Healy Eames's concern for the protection of the family home. The expert group on mortgage arrears and personal debt, chaired by Mr. Hugh Cooney, is engaged in its final deliberations on the matter and I hope its recommendations will be available in the coming weeks. Given that the group was established by Members more than two years ago, I hope its final report will...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (Panel Members)(Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran. I congratulate Senators Cummins and Coghlan on their initiative in introducing this Bill. I assume they have done so in the context of a difficult atmosphere in the Fine Gael Party, the leadership of which has determined that the abolition of the Seanad is desirable. I wish to express my personal views on Seanad reform. Eight years have...

Seanad: Announcement on Banking by the Minister for Finance: Statements (20 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I join with other Members in welcoming the Minister of State. I also welcome the opportunity to make some points on the subject of banking. I welcome the analogies made by the Minister of State in respect of French history. Throughout these debates on the scale of the banking issue, I have made the point that unlike Louis XIV, one cannot set up the guillotine on St. Stephen's Green and...

Seanad: Announcement on Banking by the Minister for Finance: Statements (20 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: We all might like it, but we cannot have it.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I join others in welcoming the meeting that took place yesterday. It achieved a great deal in reaffirming all parties' commitment to the 3% deficit by 2014, and that was very positive. I fully agree with Senator Alex White that it is important there be difference as we consider the tangibles that will get us in that direction, on which we are all agreed, of 3%. Of course it is important...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I join others in condemning what is outlined in the recently published Roscommon report. I agree with other speakers that there are many reasons for failure but no excuses for it. While I understand Senator Ó Brolcháin's reference to the pride he feels in terms of the unity among Senators in their condemnation, we all share in the shame of the inaction of many years. I believe everyone...

Seanad: Macro-Economic and Fiscal Outlook: Statements (28 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I join Senator Twomey in welcoming the Minister of State. He is a regular visitor and while we love to see him, it would be nice if the Minister for Finance could make it from time to time. I am sure he would be with us if there were not other important functions to attend to. I do not propose to go down the line of indignation again like Senator Twomey. As Senator Boyle said last week, we...

Seanad: Macro-Economic and Fiscal Outlook: Statements (28 Oct 2010)

Marc MacSharry: There are positives and every opportunity should be taken by all Members to put forward some measures, however unfounded Ministers or others may, rightfully, declare them to be. Some of the measures I have suggested may be unfounded but at least I am putting forward my tuppence worth and have referred to areas where I believe savings can be made and where revenue can be created. If all of...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Nov 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I support and commend Senator Carroll on his proposal into which he has put a great deal of work. It is innovative and creative and is the kind of issue to which everyone in this House should be dedicated at present. It is thoughtful in the context that one rarely seeks - certainly, the Department of Finance is nervous about it - to reduce VAT as a means of stimulus. Senator Carroll has...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2010)

Marc MacSharry: I join colleagues who have called for a debate on education. Some 15,000 to 20,000 students will demonstrate outside these Houses today and they are welcome to do so. As a nation, we do not pay water charges or domestic rates, we pay registration fees but we do not pay university fees and we pay child care benefits and State pensions to the super wealthy. This is unsustainable. Far from...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2010)

Marc MacSharry: Consecutive Governments since the early 1970s have perpetuated a redefining of the word "entitlement" on this country that is unnecessary and completely unsustainable. That is not to penalise those who are already among the working poor or those suffering from unemployment or poverty but to ensure those who can pay should pay.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2010)

Marc MacSharry: Unpalatable it may be but inevitable will be our fate if we do not take the responsibilities that future generations now demand of us.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Nov 2010)

Marc MacSharry: Or disagree with it.